Catalyst: (Elevated Saga Book #2)

by Daniel Solomon Kaplan

  I shake my head. "No way."

  "Jason may be there right now waiting for us, you can't blow your cover."

  "That wasn't the plan," I say. "We're supposed to be in this together."

  “Rose, we need time." Aaron says. "If Jason sees us all approaching, what good will it do?"

  "He's right," Elliott says.

  Shelly shrugs. "Yeah, he is."

  Aaron smirks. "Wow, Shelly, I think this is a first."

  "Don't get used to it."

  Aaron pulls out his phone. "I'll call you on speaker, ok? You'll be able to hear everything."

  Feeling outnumbered, I nod my head in agreement.

  “There's a spooky ghost ride over on the right," Aaron says. "The exit doors on the left are weak; all it takes is a little tug to get them open."

  "You seem to know a lot about this place," Elliott says.

  "Jason showed me around here before," Aaron says. He pauses, as if carrying a great weight. He takes a deep breath and starts to walk away from us. "I'll be alright."

  "Be careful," I say.

  Ahead on the right is the spooky ride Aaron brought up. The once bright mural has faded from years of neglect and sunlight, but you can still see the outlines of florescent skeletons and zombies. A row of tiny cars line up at the outside station. It's hard to imagine even a Basic fitting in these cars, let alone an Elevated with an extra limb or wings. Elliott tugs on the metal exit doors, which open with a piercing shriek. With no electricity to run the special effects and lighting, the inside is pitch black. Elliott pulls out his phone to light up the room and nearly drops it when Shelly lets out a huge scream.

  Elliott turns the bloody body hanging from the ceiling around, revealing the iron framework on the other side. "It's just a prop."

  "R-r-r-right," Shelly says.

  "Not a bad hiding place," Elliott says. "All you have to do is turn your light off and—"

  He turns the light from his cell off and the room is pitch black again. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

  "How long are we going to sit here in the dark?" Shelly asks.

  Elliott checks the time on his phone, illuminating a giant werewolf behind him. "About ten minutes."

  As we stand there in a dark, a terrible thought occurs to me. Should I be trusting Aaron? Maybe he's having us wait in here as a trap. He'll just walk over with Jason and—

  "You're shaking," Elliott says, holding my hand.

  "I-I-I'm just—I'm—"

  "You can trust Aaron," Elliott says.

  "Don't tell me you are having second thoughts," Shelly says. "I trusted your judgment!"

  "We're fine!" Elliott yells at us.

  "How can you be sure?" Shelly says. "Think about it. Doesn't it seem weird Aaron could keep Jason on the rocks for so long without him being suspicious?"

  "Why didn't you bring this up before?" I ask.

  "I didn't think of it until just now!"

  Elliott flashes on his cell, illuminating his face in an eerie hue. "Stop it! We can't go back now. And—I still trust him."

  Before I have a chance to agree, Elliott's phone rings.

  "I'm getting close," Aaron whispers. "He's there already."

  We hear footsteps as he nears the carrousel. There's a loud thump followed by a hideous creaking. It takes me a second to realize it's the sound of Aaron stepping onto the carousel.

  "You're on time," Jason says. "Good. Are the others here?"

  My blood runs cold and I glance over at Elliott, his widening eyes glowing in the light of his phone. He reaches around and pulls me into a tight embrace.

  "Yes," Aaron says. "Follow me."

  We hear the loud creaking sounds from them stepping off the carousel, followed by steps towards us.

  "What do we do?" Shelly says, and then covers her mouth.

  "It's ok." Elliott shows that the phone is on mute. "They can't hear us."

  "Well in that case, I hope Jason zaps the crap out of him!"

  "Where should we go?" I ask.

  "If Aaron knows this place as well as I think he does, I doubt there's anywhere for us to go. I bet those doors are the only way in or out."

  "Never should have trusted that moron," Shelly says.

  "Here they are," Aaron says. "Inside the Hall of Mirrors."

  "The Hall of Mirrors?" Shelly asks.

  "Of course," Elliott says. "Aaron is leading Jason across the way."

  Shelly takes in a deep sigh. "Why didn't he just tell us that?"

  "Maybe he was worried Jason could hear us?" I say.

  "Or he's a psycho," Shelly says. “What do we do now?”

  “Stick to the plan,” I say. “Jason doesn’t know we’ve figured out he’s an Elevated. Elliott needs to zap him before he sees us.”

  “Fine, just warn me so I can hide,” Shelly says.

  I scan outside the walls and can sense Aaron and Jason standing just a few feet away. Jason turns towards our building, and I gasp before remembering he can’t see us.

  “Sorry,” I whisper. “He’s standing outside. Ok, now they’re walking towards the Hall of Mirrors.”

  Elliott’s hands begin to turn bright blue, causing our surroundings to glow. “I’ve got to shoot before they go inside. Are their backs still turned?”

  “Yes, but—”

  Before I can stop him, Elliott bolts towards the opening. I race to catch up and reach him just in time to see him blast a blue beam through the opening. Another blast careens at Elliott, launching him into the air. His lifeless body smacks onto the rusty metal floor.

  “I’m sorry, Rose,” echoes Jason’s cold voice. “Your father should’ve listened to me. He could have spared you this mess. But now it’s up to you.”

  Chills run down my spine at his words.

  I glance down at Elliott’s body sprawled on the ground. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  “Stop playing dumb,” Jason says. When I scan outside, I see him turn towards Aaron. “Shouldn’t you be with your friends? I’m not stupid.”

  Aaron runs towards us, hopping over Elliott.

  “Help me pull him out of the way,” I say, grabbing Elliott’s head and directing Aaron to his feet.

  “He has to recharge,” Aaron whispers. “That’s why he hasn’t shot again. I got a glimpse of him fiddling with the gun.”

  “You’re running out of time, Rose,” Jason says.

  We pull Elliott out of Jason’s eyesight right as he begins to move.

  I lean down and whisper, “Stay down, Jason still thinks you’re dead and we should keep it that way.”

  “No,” Aaron says and helps Elliott back up onto his feet. “I’ve got an idea. You’ve got another charge?”

  Elliott nods, and his hands start to glow.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “Running out of time, Rose,” Jason says.

  Aaron looks deep into Elliott’s eyes. “You’re only going to get one shot.”

  I put myself in between them. “What’s going on? If he goes out again, Jason we’ll realize he’s not dead.”

  Aaron puts a hand on my arm, his eyes trembling. “Tell Jason you won’t surrender, he’ll just have to shoot us.”

  “What are—”

  “SAY IT!”

  Taking a deep swallow, I yell out. “I won’t tell you anything, so you’ll just have to shoot us.”

  “Suit yourself,” Jason says.

  Aaron pushes me aside, and nods back at Elliott. “One shot.”

  Before I realize it, Aaron jumps out of the building. A blast of blue light hits him directly in the chest, blasting him onto the ground. Elliott follows right behind, blasting his own blue ray. Scanning outside, I watch it flash above the dusty path and right into Jason’s stomach.

  He falls onto the ground. Dead.

  Catching my breath, I gaze down at the metal floor beneath me, where my friend is picking himself off the ground.

  “Aaron!” I call out.

  Aaron c
oughs, “I’m—alright—I—just—”

  As he stands, Elliott and I jump back at the sight of icky black goo covering his hands and chest.

  Shelly emerges from hiding behind a coffin. “Eww! What’s that?”

  “It’s just first ink,” Elliott says. “I had an Inker in my group. Her first batch looked just like that.”

  “I-i-ink-k-k?” Aaron stutters, not able to finish the word.

  His eyes grow pale, and he collapses back against the metal doors. He lifts his hands and stairs at them, as if looking at an alien. His shocked expression terrifies me. His mouth shifts into a half smile.

  “Shoulda known,” he says, “I’d get some crap power like that.”

  He bangs his hands against the wall. Then he hits it again even harder.

  Elliott grabs him and pins him against the wall. “Stop that!”

  Aaron laughs, but the tears in his eyes makes it obvious he’s not finding this humorous. “Yeah, nothing I can do now. I’m a freak! Just like you.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say.

  “It’s not your fault,” Aaron says. “Just adapting to the times. Would have had to become a freak someday anyway.”

  I can hardly bear to see his expression of surrender. “Aaron, I—”

  “Come on,” Aaron says. “Freak to freak hug. What do you say?”

  He reaches out with his gooey hands. I stand back.

  “What? Don’t want to hug the freak?”

  “Aaron, stop this!” Elliott says.

  I lunge forward and give Aaron the biggest bear hug I can. He starts to push me back. “No! You won’t drive me or any of the rest of us away! We’re here, Aaron. We always will be.”

  My eyes well up with tears as Aaron holds me close. Next to us, Elliott flashes me a comforting smile.

  “It’s not the worst really,” Aaron says as we break apart.

  “That’s right,” I say.

  “Yeah,” Shelly says. “Work on your splotting technique and you can be a designer for Spectrum.”

  “Sure,” Aaron says. “I also hear Inkers have had good luck stopping their powers through meditation.”

  I sigh. Doesn’t surprise me the first thing Aaron thinks of once he’s gotten powers is how to rid himself of them. As we settle down, we find ourselves looking at Jason’s body on the ground. I can’t imagine what must be going through Aaron’s head right now. When Jason betrayed us, I had only known him for a few months, but he was Aaron’s mentor and best friend for years.

  “What do we tell the police?” Elliott asks.

  “The police? Why are we telling the police anything?” Shelly asks.

  “We’ve got an intact GEMO ray,” Elliott says. “We need it to prove Mr. Williams’s innocence.”

  “But what do we tell them?” Shelly asks.

  “Not the truth,” Aaron says.

  “Obviously,” Shelly says.

  “You don’t trust anyone,” Elliott says.

  “I don’t even want to call the police,” Shelly says.

  “No, listen,” Aaron says. “I chose this spot for a reason. The Hall of Mirrors? Perfect alibi.”

  “I don’t follow,” Elliott says.

  “We can tell them Jason shot himself,” I say. “He aimed at us, and he missed. Reflected off the mirror.”

  “Seems a bit far-fetched,” Elliott says.

  “More far-fetched than you turning out to be a Catalyst?” I ask.

  “Then we call and all maintain our standings,” Aaron says. “No Catalyst or Undocumented Mutant or Unsound or—”

  He looks down at his hands and quickly puts them into his pockets.

  “I need to get cleaned up,” he says.

  “Do you ever,” Shelly says.

  “Watch it, Squeezy,” Aaron says, holding out his hands. “Don’t forget I’m armed and dangerous.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The police accept our story and it doesn’t take long for them to connect Jason’s weapon to the pieces found at the scene if Shelly’s attempted murder. A deep probe of the GEMO Control Center computers finds tampering in the augmented windows. Dad claims self-defense based on a loophole that doesn’t include Catalyst powers as Unsound powers, and he is found innocent of all of the murders. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get him off the hook for the worst crime of all: being a Catalyst. He remains under arrest under charges of being a potential threat to society.. Now it’s up to the court to determine if a Catalyst is an Unsound or not.

  The news of his dropped charges adds more fuel to the television fire around Dad. Unfortunately, the coverage shifts from how horrible and evil Dad must be to how dangerous his power could be. Jason’s fear tactics about the Catalyst seems to have worked, as the media barely picks up on the fact the whole series of murders were faked. News programs sizzle everywhere on how Catalysts should be branded and what should be done about them. My heart continues to sink as more and more people agree they should be killed, as they pose too big a threat to society. Even the most tolerant suggest they should be sequestered for the remainder of their lives. With Jason out of the way, I tell Peter to ask the Naturals to send Mom back. In the middle of the night, a pod arrives in Mrs. Ford’s backyard. Mom steps out, looking a little dazed.

  “They wouldn’t—I tried to leave—but all of a sudden—ROSE!”

  Her eyes finally open and she runs over to me.

  She can barely talk through her tears. “T-t-they told me you had sent me there. But I didn’t believe them. T-t-t-thought they kidnapped me or something.”

  I run over and give her a big hug. “I’m so sorry, Mom.”

  She can barely talk through her tears. “What were you thinking?”

  “Dad told me to protect you, I-I—”

  “Don’t you ever try anything like that again.”

  “I understand.”

  “Why didn’t you contact me?”

  I wipe away a tear from my eye. “I tried, really I did. Peter—”

  “Who’s Peter?”

  “Someone I know, his father is a Natural.”

  Mom looks confused, then seems to piece it together. “He had a Rejoining Pod.”

  “Rejoining Pod?”

  “Something they give—look, I’ll tell you about it later. What I can anyway. Truth be told, I don’t think they really wanted me to leave. Very secretive.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  Mom clears her throat. “How is your father?”

  “Ok, I guess, they still won’t let me talk to him.”

  “But Brad says he’s doing alright?”

  I nod.

  “The hearing is tomorrow, right?” she asks.

  “How did you—”

  “It’s not like they don’t have TV, Rose,” she says.

  “Brad told me he’s hopeful.”

  Mom’s face drops. “Do you believe him?”

  “No.”

  ***

  The sunny breeze makes me wish I was enjoying a stroll through Fowler’s Grove and not walking towards the looming capitol building. Elliott holds my hand, a sweet gesture, especially considering how clammy it must be.

  “Yep,” Mrs. Ford says, staring up at the tall columns. “Still as scary as always.”

  Elliott squeezes my hand. “It worked out the last time. We just need another success.”

  “We just need another miracle,” I say.

  I turn to see Shelly walking towards us, followed by Zach.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here,” I say.

  “Shelly didn’t want me to come,” Zach says, giving Shelly a disapproving glare. “But I had to.”

  Shelly turns towards Zach. “I didn’t want you to—”

  “You didn’t want me to jeopardize my career by getting entangled in this. I know. But this is my life, Shelly. You should understand more than anyone why I support defending Unsounds.”

  He walks away from her and towards the capitol on his own.

  Faintly, I can hear Shelly mutter under her breath, “Do
n’t you think I know that?”

  A line of reporters waiting for us in front of the courthouse hold out microphones and wait to ambush us. They get to Zach first.

  “Hey?” one of the reporter asks. “Aren’t you that new Flier for Volare? Why are you here?”

  Zach ignores the reporter and several others that recognize him. I can’t believe how famous he already is, before I remember that videos of his triumphant plays in tryouts have become a sensation.

  We follow behind him, and the reporters turn their yelling towards us. We scurry past them as fast as we can and into the courtroom. Once inside, only a handful of reporters fill a small assigned section. A few sit with large pads of paper in front of them.

  “Inkers,” Mrs. Ford says. “Since cameras aren’t allowed in Unsound cases, they sketch so they have something to show on the nightly news.”

  “It’s no wonder they hide Unsound trials,” Zach says. “Don’t want to broadcast how prejudiced they usually are.”

  “You’re beginning to sound like Aaron,” Elliott says.

  “I just long for a more equitable world, where people like—”

  He looks over at Shelly, and we nod. It’s hard to imagine her ever being able to reveal her powers and living in society. I’m still not even sure how I feel about a bunch of Unsounds running loose. And as much as I hate to admit it, Shelly did sabotage that kid at Volare. Would Zach feel differently if he knew Shelly was abusing her powers? Maybe the government is right, maybe some powers are just too dangerous for people to have. I don’t envy Elliott, having to deal with a power that lets him instantly kill someone.

  The courtroom falls into a dead silence as the judge takes the stand. Elliott pulls my trembling hand into his and I take a deep breath.

  It’s time.

  ***

  The prosecution begins with an all too convincing argument on how dangerous society would be with Catalysts running around. Brad tries to defend with witnesses with statements on how Dad can clearly control his powers, but the prosecution keeps steering the conversation back to his dangerous potential. The hearing stretches on for hours. I cling to the idea that, somehow, Dad will walk away from this a free man. In spite of myself, deep down I begin to agree with the prosecution. Dad and Elliott may be good people, but I don’t know how I would feel about others yielding that sort of power. As the trial comes towards its conclusion, Brad asks for a conference with the judge.